April 17, 2010

Before the unfortunate collapse of drummer Devon Clifford, Abbotsford rockers You Say Party! We Say Die!, were well on their way to putting forth another stellar, solid performance, belting out their dance punk hits with drive and purpose. Their great set at the Surrey Celebration Site during the Olympics compelled me to see them once again at the Rickshaw Theatre last night.

Opening act, newbie Vancouver rockers Petroleum By-Product, were easily the surprise highlight of the night, especially Robin Borawski's incredible skills on the drum set. Their pulpy, youthful rock songs had a consistent beat and tone that really permeated through the small theatre despite sound problems and less than perfect acoustics. I hope to hear more from this young band in the future. But Petroleum By-Product could improve their stage presence and in between song banter as bassist Vanessa Turner and keyboardist Sally Jørgensen clearly seemed nervous, but were charming, nonetheless.

Unfortunately, the other opening act eroded the good will afforded from Petroleum By-Product. Makeout Videotape powered through an uncomfortable, noisy, and long performance. They played what seemed like a dozen short songs with lead singer Mac DeMarco announcing the song title before everyone with often awkward, inappropriate banter.

The duo did not sing as much as they yelled out to the theatre. This wore out the crowd's welcome but the mood remained high as most concert goers chatted and mingled during the last half of their set as they struggled to engage the audience with their sophomoric antics.

When You Say Party! We Say Die! finally took the stage just after 11 o' clock at night, the anticipation and buzz in the small crowd was great. Becky Ninkovic and crew took to the stage and delivered a short but thrilling performance that engaged and reverberated through the audience of hipsters and young ingenues. Before the Clifford's terrible incident, the dance punk rockers belted out most of their memorable tracks from their latest LP, XXXX, including "Dark Days", "Glory", and "There is XXXX (Within My Heart)".

The show was well on its way to being a memorable performance before being cut short. It is clear that You Say Party! We Say Die! has continued to accelerate their work rate and stage play. However, they have not forgotten their humble roots as Ninkovic constantly expressed how good it felt to be close to home during the performance.

The band was scene mingling in audience throughout the night before they took they stage, setting up their own merchandise table and talking to friends. I even purchased my concert tee from guitarist Derek Adam.

Obviously, right now the band has much bigger concerns as everyone's thoughts and prayers are with them, their drummer Devon, and his family. Here is hoping everything works out and that this does not hurt the band's rise and path to musical notoriety beyond these dark days.